The specification relates to vehicular millimeter wave (mmWave) communication for non-line of sight (NLOS) scenarios.
Vehicles increasingly consume greater amounts of data. For example, vehicles may request high-definition three-dimensional maps, sensor data from other vehicles for autonomous vehicle purposes, streaming data for infotainment purposes, etc. The data may not be reasonably transmitted via conventional means, such as 3G connections, because the data may be too large to transmit or the transmission would be so demanding it would result in poor performance of the vehicle's equipment.
A mmWave message is a wireless message which is transmitted by a mmWave radio, i.e., via mmWave communication, on the band of spectrum between 30 gigahertz (GHz) and 300 GHz. Deploying mmWave communication in vehicles is desirable because mmWave communication is capable of providing gigabit (Gbts) per second data rates over short ranges. However, mmWave communication requires beam alignment between vehicles and current methods for beam alignment are designed for low mobility environments, such as when a stationary base station transmits the beam to another stationary device. This method cannot be applied to high mobility environments that occur when vehicles are moving.
In addition, mmWave communication between vehicles is frequently used in dynamic situations, such as when vehicles are travelling on a roadway. Because mmWave communication relies on transmission between antennas, transmission of mmWave communication between vehicles may be impeded by the presence of a blocker, such as a truck or a bus, because the blocker's height may be taller than the vehicles. Blockage causes a high propagation loss and makes it difficult to maintain a mmWave connection.